''Portrait of Richard Parkes Bonnington'' is a

portrait painting Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

by the English artist

Margaret Sarah Carpenter Margaret Sarah Carpenter (''née'' Geddes; 1793 – 13 November 1872) was an English painter. Noted in her time, she mostly painted portraits in the manner of Sir Thomas Lawrence (painter), Thomas Lawrence. She was a close friend of Richard Park ...

, from ''c.'' 1827-1830. It depicts her fellow artist

Richard Parkes Bonington Richard Parkes Bonington (25 October 1802 – 23 September 1828) was an English Romantic landscape painter. He moved to France at the age of 14 and can also be considered as a French artist, and an intermediary bringing aspects of English styl ...

. Bonington painted

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

and

cityscapes In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

in the romantic style. He enjoyed success at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

in 1828 but died a few months later of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at the age of twenty five. He was a friend of Carpenter, a noted

portraitist A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

of the

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

and early

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. It was exhibited at the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

in 1833. Reviewers noted the

pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

look of Bonington in her portrait. Today it is in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, having been acquired in 1877. A copy of the

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

version of the work by John P. Quilley is also in the collection.

References

Bibliography

* Barber, Tabitha (ed.) ''Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520-1920''. Tate Britain, 2024. * Tankard, Alex. ''Tuberculosis and Disabled Identity in Nineteenth Century Literature: Invalid Lives''. Springer, 2018. 1830 paintings Paintings by Margaret Sarah Carpenter Paintings in the National Portrait Gallery, London Portraits of men 19th-century portraits {{1830s-painting-stub